TT#5 My Favorite 13 Books

its Thursday Thirteen time again. today id like to give my list of my 13 favorite books.

1. The Hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams

2. Collins Digital SLR Handbook – John Freeman

3. The Colour of Magic – Terry Pratchett

4. Witches Abroad – Terry Pratchett

5. Wicca, A guide for the Solitary Practitioner – Scott Cunningham

6. The Vampire Lestat – Anne Rice

7. Queen of the Damned – Anne Rice

8. The Hobbit – J.R.R. Tolkien

9. Lord of the Rings – J.R.R. Tolkien

10. The long hard road out of hell – Marilyn Manson

11. Mort – Terry Pratchett

12. The Resturaunt at the end of the Universe – Douglas Adams

13.  The Client – John Grisham

Paranoia? Perhaps!

Well it seems something strange is going on at our humble farm. It was brought to my attention tonight that on 3 separate occasions my MIL’s shed (We share a 40 acre property, 2 separate houses on same land)  has been found open, well my Son in Law has made sure its locked and later found it open all of these occasions, There has also been suspicion of things moved in her house, Final straw it seems one of the dogs up there has developed a skittish distrust for people that it never had before and also is sporting an injured leg.  Paranoia maybe but its got me all riled up, The shed, MIL’s house and my own house are all keyed alike, if there is some kind of intruder and they have a key its bad news.

So here i am at 3:42am having changed the key to my own house and i suspect i wont sleep until the morning and i can get up to the MIL’s to do the same thing, guess this time i wont set them on the same key, We can all deal with having 2 separate keys on our key rings im sure. Good job im a locksmith with the tools to do it with minimum expense huh?

Some ask why do i own a gun, this is the exact reason why. Paranoia? maybe, but id rather be safe than sorry any day!

TT#4 Things i Want to do before I Die

Well the fact of the matter is nobody is immortal, even if i want to be. Here is a few things i really do want to do before i die.

1.) Make a difference in friends Lives

2.) Help make the world a better place somehow

3.) See the Pyramids and Sphinx in Egypt

4.) See Ayres Rock in Australia

5.) Stroke a tiger

6.) Learn to Dive and see Great White or Hammerhead sharks up close

7.) Be out of debt, funeral paid off, no Burden to anyone.

8.) See the Windmills and Tulip Fields in Holland

9.) Visit Las vegas.

10.) See the Whitehouse

11.) See a total cure for Cancer, preferbaly help in some way.

12.) Quit Smoking (Again)

13.) Live life to its fullest!

Avast ye scurvy dogs!

In celebration of Talk like a pirate day heres my World of Warcraft mage in her Pirate outfit sailing the seven sea’s

If theres one thing Deadlier than a troll fire mage its a troll fire mage thats also a pirate!

TT#3 Thursday 13 differences between US & UK English

OK its Thursday again and that means Thursday Thirteen so today i thought being an English guy living in the USA i would help international relations by translating a few differences in our english language.

1. US: Pants – Items worn on the legs.
   UK says: Trousers
   
2. UK Pants is short for Underpants
   US Tighty Whiteys.
   
3. US: Sidewalk – Place to walk at side of road
   UK: Calls it a Pavement
   
4. US: Trunk – Storage space in the back of a Vehicle (usually)
   UK: Boot.
   
5. UK: Geezer or Bloke
   US: Guy
   
6. US: Girl
   UK: Bird or Bit o Totty
   
7. UK: Herb – cooking condiment: Ok spelling is the same but in england they pronounce the H because its there
   US Herb – H is silent. Wonder why its the only word with a silent H.
   
8. US: Social Security Number]
   UK: National Insurance Number
   
9. UK: Is ruled by the Prime Minister
   US: Is ruled by the President
   
10. US: Biscuit – Light fluffy food item served with sausage (Mainly)
    UK: Scone Served with Jam (see 12)
    
11. UK: Biscuit – Sweet baked treat.
    US: Cookie
    
12. US: Jelly – Sweet fruit preserve
    UK: Jam
    
13. UK: Jelly – Dessert item made wth Gelatin
    US: Jello

OK hope i didnt confuse you all too much. Class is Dismissed!

Monitoring Kids on the Internet?

I wonder how you feel about watching what your child gets up to online, do you keep an eye over their shoulder or let them have free reign? My views are there are a lot of Predators online looking for kids, pedophiles or just wierdo’s and so I Need to know where my child (ok step child, same difference!) is hanging out and what are they looking at?

Its been proved with a little effort you can find anything on the internet, this can be good for studies but bad when you hear of sites describing how to make explosives, those are bad in the hands of “Adults” but in the eyes of a child its even worse, then there’s Porn, Spyware and viruses to worry over.

I Do agree and believe kids have to be able to express themselves however, with their school mates or local friends its healthy to chat and play , i could never dream of taking that away from them, so where does the limit of restriction lay?

Recently i have just found and installed a great programme called Crawler Parental Control On first looks it seems powerful.
I have asked it to Block all Adult sites, anything associated with hacking and suspected Spyware/Virus sites.
I have for the computers protection more than the child, blocked access to Peer to Peer transfers, too much stuff availiable on there, wares and other illegal download sites that also seem to house viruses, trojans and the like. But the programme is capable of much more.
I had to go in and disable its Ability to take a screenshot of the screen every few minutes for you to actually look at what they were looking at periodically, this is bordering on that infringement of privacy and so far i have no reason to suspect her of anything needing that kind of monitoring, but on the other hand i have enabled a Log of which sites she goes to by Url.
Finally it auto Limits her time online and logs her off at bedtime, this is because she has a laptop so could theoretically sit in her room all night and we might not catch it.

So what do you think is fair monitoring of a 13 year old child online, am i crossing borders i shouldn’t be or am i as i think just being a protective parent (Along with my wife of course this is both of us not just me) How do you Monitor your childs activities on the computer?

Time

Someone once told me that time was a predator that stalked us all our lives. I rather believe that time is a companion who goes with us on the journey and reminds us to cherish every moment because it will never come again. What we leave behind is not as important as how we’ve lived. After all , we’re only mortal
©Star Trek Generations

What do people think of Time, is it a Companion or predator or something else? Above quote i heard tonight while watching Star Trek Generations movie and its got me thinking. Myself i sometimes feel time has slipped away I’m talking to people on face book that i haven’t seen in 15-18 years and remember the times we shared as if it was yesterday. I Sit and contemplate my life and know i need to work on getting a career rather than moving from one job to another but in the end as long as the memories are good does it matter? How much planning do you readers make for your retirement, have any plans for that far in the future or are you really just taking it day to day like myself, Am i foolish for not having the ultimate plan?

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TT#2 Thirteen Wishes

Inspired by Utopian Muse and Perpstu on Plurk i would like to present Thirteen wishes for this thursday in no priority order just a generalization.

1. I Wish people could help each other out in times of need more.
2. I Wish there was less conflict, both on a global scale to avoid war and on a personal scale to avoid arguments and drama  in real life and other online social forums.
3. I Wish for a speedy recovery and minimal pain for my wifes surgery this week.
4. I Wish science would hurry up and find solutions to the worlds biggest killers like but not limited to  Cancer and HIV/Aids.
5. I Wish for Financial stability, i dont want to be rich, i dont really want fancy cars, huge houses but just to be able to pay my bills and have some left over for a happy retirement.
6. I Wish for good health, most importantly to my family, friends but really world wide so thier family and friends can all be included.
7. I Wish for a long future for all our children, thier children and all the children after them, a world without global warming and armageddon dread.
8. I Wish for an end to Violent Crime and Terrorism, a world where we can go anywhere without worrying about our own safety.
9. I Wish our military troops were home helping to protect our fine countries within our own borders.
10. I Wish for the ability to travel more, experience more cultures and see how others live in this huge world of ours.
11. I Wish for governmental money to be spent more on Education and less on Sports, Our kids are more important than a recreational hobby.
12. I wish for more time with my UK Family either me visiting the UK or them visiting me here. Its hard to be 4000 miles from loved ones.
13. I wish for Unity while keeping Individuality, It doesnt matter what sex, religion, race, color, creed, orientation or any other slot-hole people are placed in, we are all equals and should be treated and treat others as such!

Mans best friend

Cookie - Contemplation

I Never used to be a fan of dogs and especially didn’t like yappy small dogs, didn’t see the sense in an animal that didn’t reach my waist. My ideal dog i thought would be a Husky (still want one), Rottweiler or German Shepherd. But then along came this beast.

The more time i spend around this Jack Russel the more i adore her. She has personality like i have never seen from an animal and OMG is she smart! She loves cats and plays with kittens Gently. As far as shes concerned shes bigger than a rottie, and i have seen her challenge one as a puppy. but if your even slightly feeling down shes in your lap or next to you for support.

Loyal and fun, what else would one want from a companion? I have been Assimilated!

Cookie - Puppy